Coronavirus Florida: Cultural groups power up their online presence

Wednesday

With most of Palm Beach County’s cultural venues closed because of the coronavirus pandemic, they’re turning to the internet to stay connected with audiences.

Are you getting cabin fever while confined to the house by the coronavirus scourge?

Local cultural groups have a cure for that.

They’re using social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, connecting through e-blasts and maintaining spaces on their websites where entertainment and instruction are just a click away.

On the Palm Beach Zoo’s Instagram page you can wish Kadar the Malayan tiger happy birthday or watch the zoo’s staff treat Merlin the fennec fox for minor scrapes.

At the Norton Museum’s website you can watch artist Nick Cave’s conversation with head curator Cheryl Brutvan or hear staff talk about their favorite works in the collection.

The Armory Art Center is posting short how-to art-making videos on its YouTube channel.

Palm Beach Opera plans to start posting snippets of past performances, educational materials about opera and links to other opera companies’ digital diversions by the end of the week.

"We want to have our folks feel that we care about them and we’re still connected to them," General Director David Walker said.

Staying connected is a lifeline for cultural groups for whom the shutdowns mean days of lost revenue and the risk that audiences battered by the pandemic’s financial toll might not contribute as generously or visit them as frequently when the disease abates.

Palm Beach Dramaworks’ In the Wings Interactive will go live on Monday on its website, where it will post short videos featuring staff discussing their jobs, interviews with playwrights and other content. Shorter features will be shared on social media.

"Basically, we’re trying to reach out to current patrons and other theater lovers where they already are getting their news and information," said Samantha Mighdoll, digital communications and marketing manager.

Palm Beach Symphony is powering up its social media presence with offerings such as selections from Music Director Gerard Schwarz’s library of music analysis videos, clips from past concerts and videos featuring its musicians.

The internet also is giving cultural groups an opportunity to revive events that were curtailed by the closings.

The Armory’s student and faculty art shows were poised to open when the order came down. The nonprofit visual arts school filmed the exhibitions and posted a virtual tour on its YouTube channel.

"It was really a fine show,’’ Executive Director Tom Pearson said. "We wanted people to see what was there."

The Norton Museum is considering posting a virtual tour of American Art Posters from the Leonard A. Lauder collection, which is scheduled to come down on May 17.

The shuttered Flagler Museum offers videos from its lecture series and a photo and audio tour of the site on its webpage.

The Kravis Center is keeping audiences interested in the upcoming season with postings such as a video where Jimmy Buffett demonstrates a no-touch Parrothead greeting. Buffett’s "Escape to Margaritaville" is scheduled to play Dec. 15-20 at the center.

The internet also lets groups extend a helping hand to parents at home with school-age children.

The zoo plans to launch its PBZ TV on Monday on Instagram and Facebook. It will feature short videos about animals and materials such as quizzes, worksheets and coloring book pages. New features will be posted at 10 a.m. on Mondays through Fridays.

The South Florida Science Center and Aquarium’s offerings include live education programs on Fridays. Aquarium shows air at noon and science demonstrations and lessons at 3 p.m. on its Facebook page. Soon they’ll be posted to YouTube and the website.

The Norton Museum’s website contains instructions on how kids can make their own Jackson Pollock-style action painting.

In addition to entertaining and educating the community, cultural groups seek to soothe and inspire them during an unusually stressful time.

As Norton Museum Director Elliot Bostwick Davis said, the museum "is a resource that we hope will allow our audiences to flourish, even when our doors may be closed."

A listing of online experiences can be found on the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County’s website at palmbeachculture.com/council-news/virtual-palmbeachculture-experiences-tours-classes/